BIRD GUIDING AROUND OSLO

Tuesday, 31 October 2017

It was
back to Fornebu today in the hope of sunshine and better photo opportunities.
The sun did shine at times and the birds showed and the photos are probably a
bit better than yesterday but it still smells a bit of same, same but
different.

A Little
Grebe was a new bird for me (although had been seen already on Saturday) and a
Water Rail actually showed itself, albeit distantly. The Jack Snipe continued
to fly up from the same place so I might be able to view it on the deck if I
have some luck. The three Snow Buntings were still present and equally
confiding. It is quite possible that I am the first homo sapien that these
birds have seen and as is often the case with birds of the high mountains they
foolishly do not associate the most vicious species on the planet with danger.
A Skylark and Linnet were late birds but as usual these days Nansenpark was
otherwise devoid of birds.

The Beardies
were still present in the same reedbed as yesterday. I had a group of at least
6 birds which seemed quite settled and then a group of 5 that were making a lot
of noise and moving around. These birds showed at close range although never
moved into a patch of reeds with sunlight to give me an ultimate photo opp.
This group eventually flew high and off to the south. As I wrote yesterday, one
can really wonder how many Beardies have been through Fornebu this year. One
can also wonder how this species manages to find its way to these small
reedbeds more or less every autumn.

There are
lots of Redpolls around at the moment but they never really show very well.
Based on other observations there appear to be a few northern/Arctic birds
among them and hopefully as winter progresses the flocks will become easier to
view.

I was quite happy with the quality of the first two videos despite them being handheld. This final video though is pants but that is due to distance.

Monday, 30 October 2017

Temperatures were down to -2C at dawn today and with it being even
colder and with lots of snow further inland we can hope for some movements of
birds looking for slightly more hospitable conditions. There are signs that we
will have an invasion of Pine Grosbeaks this winter and the first bird was
found in Oslo on Saturday by Stig “Mr. Grosbeak” Kalvatn who seems to have a
magical ability to find this species in the forests around Oslo.

I also have high hopes of finding Great Grey and Hawk Owls given the
good breeding season both species have had in mid/southern Norway and the large
numbers of birds that should be moving around looking for food. Before these
exciting species hit us though we can hope for mountain breeding seaducks which
will be forced to head for the coast and maybe another wave of geese as the
last birds leave Trøndelag heading for the coasts of northern Europe.

A species I had today that is probably weather related was three Snow
Buntings which showed very well on one of the few remaining open areas at
Fornebu. They seemed to be finding plenty of seeds to eat and will maybe stay
for a few days. I also found a minimum of 14 Bearded Tits in a new area at
Fornebu (with none being located in the two normal reedbeds). It really makes
you wonder how many there have been in total this autumn and how many will stay
the winter.

A shoal of cod feeding in very shallow water close to land was an
unusual sight.

Friday, 27 October 2017

Nice and sunny with no fog today so I thought I'd try for the hairy
titties again.

I found them and at times had them close, sometimes also with sun light
on them and also close enough to use the flash but am I happy with any of the
pics? Don't think so.

Behaviour wise though it was fascinating to watch them. I first found a
pair (or a at least a male and female that were keeping each other company) and
these two were quite noisy and flew around the reedbed. Sometimes also landing
in birch trees and engaging in high flying but always plummeting back into the
reedbed. On one of these high flyings they suddenly had the company of a third
bird and after plunging down they carried on calling and allowed me to find
them - a male had joined them. Whilst watching these three I could hear another
bird in the reeds and eventually a female joined them. All four birds were very
active and started go up a tree (never seen that before!) until they were all
at the top and then they launched themselves into the sky. After a couple of
rounds they headed towards Storøykilen.

I checked out Nansenpark where a single Meadow Pipit didn't quite meet up
to my expectations of a rare wheatear or shrike.

In Storøykilen everything was very quiet until after a long while I
heard a ping. The Beardies were here but they were hardly calling, feeding low
down out of sight and not interested in playback. I eventually confirmed 4
birds so they were presumably the ones from Koksa but their behaviour was so
different. Now they were settled and focused on feeding rather than seemingly
being more interested in finding a new location and other Beardies which their
behaviour in Koksa suggested was top of their minds earlier. If they are now
settled for the winter then they will become increasingly difficult to find
them but it is still early in the season and more birds may turn up and be
lively for at least the first few days post arrival.

Otherwise the Jack Snipe was still present and four Water Rails were
calling. One of them clearly got frightened by something in the reedbed because
it flew up squealing and perched in the reeds before again flying up in a noisy
panic and flying 15 m over the reeds before tumbling down. There was also a late(ish)
Reed Bunting which showed really well but why wasn’t it a rarer bunting?

Stopping to do grocery shopping on the way home gave me my first
Waxwings of the autumn and reminded me how much I like hearing their call. Let’s
hope there will be lots this winter.

male Bearded Tit (skjeggmeis) taken with superzoom using flash

a female feeding on the ground

always something between me and the bird

and again a reed is in the way

never seen Beardies in a tree before

the four leave Koksa in the direction of Storøykilen

the light was great in Storøykilen but the birds were far less cooperative

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About Me

My name is Simon Rix and I am an English birder who has lived in Oslo since 2001. I am a bird guide and served a term on the Norwegian Rarities Committee (NSKF) from 2012-2018.
This blog primarily records my birding around Oslo.